Another Papercut Ensis Tee. This time with Fabric a Brac hot air balloons and teal Levana Merino. Not sure what the hot air balloons is comprised of, I think it might be wool, but its scratchy so not sure. Happy Halloween!
That is all :)

I'm the dread pirate Roberts for starting projects and not getting around to finishing them for years. This bag is a prime example of my great ideas and poor follow up for craft projects. I started it while living in Lower Hutt and have now been in my new house for 4 years. Oophs.

I had intended to create a flap for the top but I lost some of the pieces (oophs) including the handles. I managed to track down some similarly coloured (but different cord width) in spotlight and away I went again.

I've also included the start of a new crochet blanket - which thankfully I've managed to finish since taking these photos!

I'm sitting at home on Friday night watching RuPaul's drag race and wandering through my recent trip to Otaki and Levin. Seems like a bit of a dichotomy.

I found this sociopathic rabbit in a cafe near Otaki. The cafe has been on my list of places to visit but I won't be returning - rather musty smelling and not great service or food. Unfortunately the rabbit wasn't for sale (my brother is getting married next year and would have loved him).

Obviously my main reason for sanctioning the trip was to get to Levana ;) I got quite a few knits and have even managed to sew most of these up in the time its taken to upload and blog about the photos! I'm having a bit of trouble with my sewing machine and knits - some of it is the sewing machine but most of it seems to be me!

In January of this year, I went to a wedding in Marlborough and really needed something to do on the boat - or rather thought that I did as I didn't get too far in my stitching on the trip. And then lost the instructions. Ah well. Some things were never meant to be and strangely enough a flock of sheep in my life wasn't that appealing to begin with!

So I switched to elephants instead.

I love my Jo Verso cross stitch books but rarely seen to stitch much any more. I think sewing might have taken over as my major hobby (it would be wonderful if that meant I didn't just accumulate bits of things from beading, cross stitching, card making, etc. that I can't bear to get rid of! - NO MORE NEW Hobbies. Definitely. Maybe.).

It seems strange blogging about a hot water cover in the middle of Spring. However, the slackness of my blogging explains much of the seasonal mismatch. It should have been a fairly easy sewing project BUT...
I measured the hottie without water in it and fitted the cover too securely so had to abandon the first one (above) as it was too small when I actually added water to the hot water bottle (or hottie as they are called in NZ). I even managed some lime green trim on the back!

The whole thing was lined in minky fabric. Delish!

Ah well. On to round 2. Same fabric but had to cut into virgin stuff :(

I picked out one of the fish in the front with some embroidery thread.

Added a second fabric to the back and finished off with three orange buttons. Those button holes really tested my patience! Eventually I used tissue paper to overcome the cantankerous nature of the minky.

I've another one of these to make as I have a third hot water bottle that is currently wandering around…

It might seem a little early to be posting about Christmas (and it most certainly is!) but I did start this last year. And only finally finished it.

I present my crochet wreath. Rather pleased about how it turned out with its multitude of green shaded leaves.

There was a serious number of ends to sew in though.

Here it is on the front door (though its currently residing in my study as its far too early to put it up!).

There's five different types of leaves, four of which are crocheted and the final one is cut from felt. Interspersed with silver beads of different sizes.

I used the same light green to crochet up some of the leaves and make the crocheted backing 'fabric' for the foam circle. One some of the light green ones I also added a few beads to the spikes of the leaves when I crocheted them up. I've quite a few crocheted leaves left and plan on using them for Christmas cards this year if they look ok with a paper backing. Pattern for the leaves: Attic 24 J…

The fabric was a cheap cotton from the Levana Popup shop in Porirua for a $1 a metre. The buttons were from stash and I mixed up the colours a bit so I had enough :)

I had to grade the pattern at the shoulders, bust and hips. The sleeves were far too long and I've shortened them a bit. I could also benefit from making the cuffs a little tighter and somehow lengthening the centre front. Also need to make the shoulders smaller and do something with the neckline too. The fabric wasn't the greatest choice of this as its too light for heat but pleased with the pattern and trial.

Rather pleased with the trial of adding the buttons. Washi tape really helped the process.